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Fletcher & Buttner to get United title medals

Darren Fletcher will be furnished with a winners' medal © PA Photos

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Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Darren Fletcher and Alexander Buttner will receive a medal for helping Manchester United regain the title, even though they have only made three appearances each.

Players who make five or more league appearances for the champions are guaranteed a medal - in previous years it was 10 - but Ferguson will allocate others to squad players who have only featured on a handful of occasions.

Midfielder Fletcher's season was brought to a premature conclusion by the stomach problem that has troubled him for the past two years while left-back Buttner has been Patrice Evra's understudy.

But United will receive 40 medals for Ferguson to distribute among players and staff and he told the club's official website: "They will get medals. It's changed now. They give you an allocated number of medals and it's up to you to distribute them how you want.

"I think that's fair because, in Darren Fletcher's case for instance, it's only illness which has prohibited him from getting a medal. I'm sure if he'd been available he would have been sitting here with one.

"Buttner's been great because he's travelled to every away game with us, he's been involved in every single training session, he's played three times and been a substitute another 10 times, something like that. So I think that's a contribution."

Reserve goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard has featured in eight league games, too few to qualify for a medal under the old rules, but ensuring his contribution will be recognised now.

Ferguson added: "It's very difficult for a goalkeeper to get the 10 appearances when your first-choice goalkeeper is performing the way David De Gea has. So I think Anders Lindegaard deserves his medal too."

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